The Dinner Party

So the dinner party was a success! Our friends brought over their lovely little puppy Gable so it was more of a doggie play date / dinner party, but thoroughly our kind of vibe.

For the starter, I made a mixed green salad with grapefruit segments, goat cheese, walnuts and dried cranberries with a balsamic and chive vinaigrette. For the entree I made a mushroom tart with tofu, parsley and chives, accompanied by a steamed artichoke with a caper and garlic aioli. Our friends are vegetarians, hence the veg main course.

For dessert, I went out on a limb to try a recipe I found from the Golden Door Spa. It's a flourless chocolate cake without the guilt, i.e. without fat or sugar.

I didn't take many pictures (thoroughly distracted by puppy playtime) but here's a look at the dinner table in action and our dessert. I topped the flourless chocolate cake with a blackberry coulis I made by blending fresh blackberries with some frozen raspberries, a little honey and lemon juice.

Here's the recipe for the flourless chocolate cake. Cooked yam and banana replace the typically "guilty" fat and sugar in the original recipe and, I must say, this was a surprisingly light dessert.  The recipe for the mushroom tart came from a vegetarian cook book I have, but here's a similar recipe you can try.

Now that the holidays are over, are you planning any dinner parties? I want to hear all about it! Leave a comment below or email me.